The Pascoe Vale home of photographic artist Lilli Waters and her husband Jake Cole, a musician, is full of character and creative energy. Here, amongst a jungle of luscious indoor plants and a seriously impressive collection of op-shop treasure, Lilli’s haunting photographic artworks adorn the walls, alongside artworks and handcrafted objects by creative family and friends. Lilli also has a home studio here, whilst Jake’s ever-expanding guitar and amp collection slowly commands more floorspace!
‘The deal was when we moved in, that I got the second bedroom as my studio, and poor Jake got the linen cupboard for his giant collection of guitar pedals’ Lilli explains. ‘He loves that cupboard, it’s like his man den, or in his case, man cupboard’.
The pair previously lived in nearby Brunswick West, and were initially a little nervous about venturing into a new suburb. ‘We looked at so many houses in the area, and this one was the only one we loved’ recalls Lilli. ‘I remember after a weekend of house inspections, feeling so depressed at the falling apart shacks we had seen, we sent an email to the real estate on a Sunday basically begging for them to accept us, and they did!’. The pair wasted no time in making their new surroundings feel like home, establishing a veggie garden, and decorating with a varied mix of furniture, textiles and art.
‘You will probably be able to tell that I am quite the collector, and a bit of an op-shop nut’ Lilli confesses. ‘I’ve been collecting old stuff for about 15 years now, which is strange, because my parents were both op-shop home reno addicts and I used to hate op shops when I was a kid, I’d sit in the Kingswood bored out of my brain, but I guess it washed off!’
Lilli and Jake are also big collectors of local artwork, and have amassed a huge collection of paintings and photographs by talented family and friends. Amongst these are artworks by Lilli’s sister Camille Moir Smith of Carpenter’s Daughter, her mother Mali Moir’s botanical paintings, as well as paintings and prints by Bobby Clarke, Sarah Hendy & Lisa Sorgini to name a few. Alongside these much loved pieces are a few restored artworks too, including a sad poppy painting that was torn and left abandoned in a secondhand hand shop, but which Lilli rescued and had restored. ‘It’s as good as new!’ Lilli says! ‘I love finding old things and giving them life again… it reminds me of how something abandoned and broken can always be fixed and loved again.’
Lilli and Jake love coming home to their house, and feel it is a a space which really nurtures both of their creative spirits. ‘I’m very much drawn to the organic feel of this house’ Lilli muses. ‘It has such a warm feeling, and makes you feel safe and at home as soon as you walk in the door’.
Just beautiful, I love the textures and plants and light of your home. Thank you for sharing.
Oh, I like this place so much! It has a great feel to it!
Loving the way they make their home so inviting
Such a lovely space and so refreshing to see people make a rental property feel super homely and their own.
Gorgeous. I can’t even manage to make the house I own look so inviting!
So beautiful!! I’d love to come home to that. Does anyone know where you can get hooks like the ones they’re using to hang the prints etc? So that you don’t have to put a nail in the wall. Thanks :)
Anne, I have the same picture rails and I grab those hooks at my local framer here in Bendigo, sold in packs of 5. I also find more ornate ones at the tip shops/recycle yards. Good luck!
Anne – they are hanging off the timber picture rail that is part of the wall. You can get the hooks from any hardware store if you are lucky enough to be renting a house with a rail (I am! )
Anne, most hardware stores will stock moulding hooks. Schots Emporium has a pretty good selection of these too: https://www.schots.com.au/hardware/picture-rail-hooks.html
Anne- they are picture rail hooks that you can buy at framing shops/photographic shops and probably even hardware stores. They’ll also sell the extra hanging wire if you need it. Hope that helps. The beauty of picture rails!
Lovely home, unique .Using the natural beauty of an older home and developing a special place of your own .This home provides inspiration to other young people struggling to get into and make a place of their own a reality. You have both created an achievable style that others can create if they have the time to hunt for things, salvage stuff and make use of treasured family items.Your home is proof that you don’t need loads of money to create a cosy but beautiful personal environment.
Thank you for featuring more and more rental homes. It is wonderful to see renters like me determined to make a place truly one’s home and putting in a personal aesthetic, as the dream of home ownership fades for many of us – not only for those doing it tough but for migrants like me who arrived 10 years ago and younger Australians.